


Friend

by aneighthdomain



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Accidental Plot, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enthusiastic Consent, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluffy Ending, Penis In Vagina Sex, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:35:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22645753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aneighthdomain/pseuds/aneighthdomain
Summary: I’d rather take my chances with a soaked blaster than risk another round of dislocation.”“You said my round twos were fun.”“You’re just all about the jokes now, aren’t you?”He shrugged.  “Your fault. I used to be very stoic.”When the Mandalorian is running down a lead on Nevarro to find out where the Child comes from, who else would he ask to help?
Relationships: Cara Dune & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Cara Dune/The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Din Djarin & Cara Dune, Din Djarin/Cara Dune
Comments: 39
Kudos: 133





	1. The Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so there's kind of a lot to unload here, so bear with me. 
> 
> 1\. So, this was supposed to be a smutty one-shot. Honestly, I started this fic on January 1st with the intention of posting it that day. Clearly, that did not happen. So, given that Din and Cara and I had to compromise on the plot of this fic, I decided to post this in such a way that if someone wanted to skip the smut, then they could do so. With the exception of one joke, it is completely unnecessary to read the smut part. The chapters are labeled accordingly.
> 
> 2\. I am not a volcanologist, so my research can only take me so far, so all the geologist stuff is best guess because I super wanted to have a glass cliff. Because pretty. I love obsidian. I did do my absolute best to create something that could at least reasonably allow someone to suspend disbelief.
> 
> 3\. It is in my bio that I do not write medical things to be medical advice, but there's a couple things in here that it just bears saying again. I am not a medical professional, should you be in an emergency, please please please go to a hospital. I have researched this the best to my ability, but yeah, there is actually something in here that they do that you shoulder NEVER EVER do. Actual medical providers are going to be much better help than me.
> 
> Okay, I think that's all. Have fun!

The glass of the terrain crunched under her boots as she landed on the other side of the crevice. The veil of laze around her was thickening as they moved farther into the glass cliffs and she needlessly adjusted her full face respirator.

“So what are we doing again?” Cara asked as the Mandalorian took a running start and leapt over the same crevice.

“Cara,” he said after he landed, and she could legitimately hear the rolling of his eyes as he stood. “I told you what we are doing.”

“I know you said you were following up on a lead for the kid’s species and then you tossed the mask at me and we took off. What lead led you back to Nevarro? What would even be here?”

The Mandalorian shook his head as he came up beside her and they moved on.

“There was a doctor here when I met with the client to get the kid. I nearly shot him when he came into the room without any warning.”

Cara nodded. “That’s odd. Wasn’t he an Imp?”

The Mandalorian shrugged. “His lack of situational awareness would suggest he had no idea what he was into.”

He stepped down onto a slope, not particularly steep, but the glass under their boots threatened to take the traction out from under them with every step. With reinforced gloves and the padding of their reinforced clothing, they guided their way down the side by hand and hips.

“When I took the job, I was told either alive or proof of termination by the client, but then this Doctor Pershing spoke about an agreement that had been made, and termination not being apart of it.” He braced himself as he came to the end of the slope and pushed himself up, waiting for her. “Whether that agreement was with the client or Gideon, I don’t know, but he was pretty insistent that the child stay alive long enough to get to him.”

“Alright,” she said, pushing herself up and shaking the glass from her hand. “Was he here when we came to kill the client?”

The Mandalorian shook his head. “I don’t remember seeing him. Honestly, I couldn’t see him being anywhere near that fight, and definitely not anywhere near Gideon. He cowarded away from me like a simpering child when I broke in to get the kid. He said he’d protected him, but he wasn’t too interested in getting back to the kid when I shoved him out of the way. I’ve met a lot of cowards with more spine than he showed.”

Cara snorted. “Sounds like a real winner.”

“He said he was the only reason the kid was still alive when I got there. I don’t have any evidence that would suggest otherwise.” 

He slipped a little as shards slid against each other and Cara reached out to steady him before they moved on. “But, it’s been months and I don’t have any leads. I’ve been to twelve systems, thirty-five planets and I haven’t found anyone on this side of the galaxy who recognizes his species. This doctor was the only one who appeared to know anything about the kid.”

Cara tilted her head in acknowledgement as they started off again. “Alright. Fine. Now tell me why I’m here.”

“Because I’m paying you.”

Cara grimaced. “You haven’t paid me, yet. Pretty sure I’m still allowed to walk away.”

He stopped and turned to her. “Seriously?”

Cara snickered. “I’m joking! Come on, you’ve gotta lighten up.”

He shook his head. “I’m giggling on the inside.”

“I’d almost pay to hear you laugh. You’d probably sound like a Kowakian monkey-lizard.”

The Mandalorian choked back a groan. “Cara.”

She put up her hands, warding him off. “I’m teasing you! You’ve heard of that, right? Friends teasing each other? Do any of the Mandalorians have a sense of humor or are you the only one with stunning wit?”

He shook his head and moved off again. “You understand why we have so many foundlings, right? Not a whole lot to laugh about as a foundling.”

Cara sighed, admitting defeat. “Fine. Fine. No jokes. Serious as a Condorian plague.” She moved past him, heading in the direction he’d been leading them all this time, but it didn’t take him long to catch back up to her.

“So, being as you are a fairly capable hunter, why do you need a second?”

“There are only two ways into our target’s safe-house, a master key or two lock panels that require simultaneous sequence. I’ve already tried breaking the master, but there’s nothing to stand on under the lock, and the cliff isn’t stable enough to lock a harness rope into the glass. So we have to do the two person lock.”

Cara furrowed her brow, steadying herself as she felt the traction slide a bit before pointing at his back. “Why don’t you just use your jetpack?”

The Mandalorian sighed, shrugging. “I haven’t mastered it yet. A glass cliff didn’t seem like a good place to take my chances.”

Her brows rose out of their furrow. “Fair enough.”

The rest of the journey was mostly in silence, with grunts and panting as they navigated the terrain, encumbered by the reinforced clothing. It wasn’t really the kind of terrain you wanted to be traveling on while distracted by conversation anyway. One slip and you were either impaled or more likely, shredded by countless tiny shards. It was both a blessing and worrisome that no one came this far out to get water and glass. There was very little in the way of chips and shards to slide out from under their boots, but there was also no way to tell if the glass you stood on was strong enough to hold you.

So, it was slow going. There were no close calls because they were careful, but it also had as much to do with luck. And luck always ran out, eventually.

Cara looked out at the sky as they approached the edge of the cliff. She’d been concentrating so much on where she put her feet, she hadn’t realized how late it had gotten.

“There’s no way we’re going to be able to get in and out and back again before dark,” she said, stepping up to the cliff’s edge. “It’s going to be impossible to navigate all of that in the dark.”

He nodded and pointed down. “The rhyolite at the bottom of the cliff cooled differently than the rest and so it’s not glass all the way down. There’s caves down there. I found one while scouting before that closes off at high tide, but ascends up into the cliff above the tide. If for whatever reason we can’t get into the compound, we can shelter down there for the night and find our way back up in the morning.

Cara nodded. “Alright, then. Let’s not waste time.”

The pair stopped long enough to tie the toe cleats to their boots. Cara also changed out the filter on her respirator and set up the commlink in her ear. As she surveyed the cliffs edge looking for a good place to start down, she noted that the Mandalorian was right about not being able to get a harness rope in; there was debris and shards missing all along the way. But, distributing their weight between their hands and feet would hopefully keep them from immediate death.

The climb was a bit harrowing, but only in that Cara hadn’t focused so narrowly on an action for so long in a while. Most of her concentration needed to be on looking for the best places to put her hands, and very carefully kicking her cleats into the glass face of the cliff.

By the time they reached the opening for the entrance for the safe house, it was clear why the Mandalorian hadn’t wanted to risk the chancy control over the jetpack. It appeared that there had once been an outcropping here, below the entrance. It now resided at the bottom of the cliff in spires and ragged monoliths that would eviscerate things bigger than her very breakable body. Not even the reinforced suit would prevent those razor sharp edges from impaling her or cleaving her flesh from her bones. This was insane.

Tapping on the cliff face brought her attention back to the Mandalorian and he pointed down and diagonally from her position to a tiny little platform below what was likely a keypad. That’s where he wanted her to go. Then he tapped the side of his head and she nodded, turning the link on.

“Be careful getting down there,” she heard in her ear. “That side seems to be the more stable than this one, but I’m sure someone thought the original outcropping was stable too, given that there’s more than just glass down there.”

Cara nodded again. “I’ll take your word for it. I’ll be down there in a minute.”

The Mandalorian nodded himself and it was back to concentrating on where her limbs were at all times.

The first step onto the small platform was slow and stressful. She placed her weight on one toe, one increment at a time, then more confidently, dropped her heel. Slowly, oh so slowly, she let all of her weight rest on one foot, carefully and quickly as possible bringing her other foot down to distribute her weight.

She waited for the cracks, creaks, crunching, but honestly, she couldn’t have heard anything that quiet over the crashing waves below her. So she paid careful attention to how things shifted under her boots. There did feel like there was some loose glass under her and she very carefully shifted back and forth, sliding it all away with the edge of her sole.

When it seemed like things were going to stay properly under her, she turned her head to look over at her partner. He was also looking up from his feet, head facing her.

“You good?” he asked over the commlink.

“Seem to be. You?”

He nodded. “Same. Are you ready?”

Cara nodded.

“Alright. On the pad, there should be a three by three grid. The symbols are eroded off mine, so yours is probably the same.”

She nodded. “Yup.”

“From the top, one through three, left to right. Then down; four, five, six. Down, seven, eight, nine, all left to right.”

“Got it.”

“Okay. The sequence is 12 digits, starting with seven, nine, one, two-”

Cara felt the tiny platform give, just the slightest of crack and drop, but it was there. She slammed her cleated glove into the cliff face with a sharp cry while the platform under her feet vanished, falling away down to the other glassy spires.

She heard the Mandalorian scream her name over the commlink, but her concentration was on her grip, controlling the muscles so her weight didn’t pop her arm out of the socket. She groaned as the strain shot up her arm and she scrambled her toe cleats against the glass, gouging a foothold until she felt stable enough.

She sucked in huge breaths as she was able to let up a bit on her arm and became aware of the rough, raspy analogue voice calling her.

Still breathing deep, she waved her free hand at him. “Calm down. I’m fine.” As he stopped yelling at her, gulps of breath turned into pants, turned into halting, shaking laughter. 

“That was a close call!” she said over the comms, looking down below her feet to see there wasn’t anything below her at all anymore.

“Please don’t do that again.”

Cara snorted. “Yeah. I’ll do my best not to fall to my brutal and graphic death again. It seemed like so much fun, but I’ll try for you.”

“Wiseass.”

Through her shab-eating grin she said, “I think I can still reach the keypad.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

She looked up at him. “What else are we going to do? Getting into the safe-house is the best option, right?”

He was quiet for a moment, before hesitantly, “Yes.”

Cara nodded. “Alright, let’s do it. I can reach.” She kept the barely to herself.

“You’re sure?”

“Burning daylight.”

“Okay. Seven, nine, one, two, eight-”

And that was it. That was all she was going to hear of the sequence. This time, the warning happened the exact moment her handhold gave way. Her heart stopped. There was no way out of this. She was going down and she wasn’t going to live through it. Had this been worth it? Had this last adventure been worth this kind of death?

As the world started falling away and time slowed, she turned her head toward the Mandalorian. Her friend. He’d called her that once. When the kid had tried to kill her, he’d told the thing that she was his friend. Had he meant it? Or had he only said it to get the kid to let her go because he needed her help?

She wouldn’t know now. There wasn’t going to be time to find out. So, maybe? She guessed?

As a sharp sting sliced through her in an acceptance of emotional pain, she turned her head and flipped, twisting so she met her fate head on. She was going to die; the least she could do was meet it well.

Despite her best efforts though, the sight of the ragged, sinister edges below her cut through her just as surely as the spires were going to upon landing. The abject terror seized her up and she couldn’t think anymore, even to try and manipulate her body in a way to minimize the damage the way she had been trained.

Her heart went into hyperdrive, the need to flee slamming into her, flooding her system, but all she could do was freeze. There was no way out. Nothing to lash out at, nothing to drag under herself to avoid the jagged, knife point edges. Just no way out. This was it. It was over. She tried to tell herself she was getting a warrior's death, being brave, but really, she was just frozen. She knew that sometimes you didn’t fight, or flee. Sometimes you froze. And this was that time for her. She was going to die.

Distantly, she heard a roar, one that countered the rush of air past her ears, or the crashing she was hurtling toward. It sounded like a completely different element to the air and the water. She didn’t have time to turn before she felt the hard impact to her side. The slam took the breath from her lungs and felt like it could have cracked a rib.

The pain reinvigorated her and her overactive heart finally got her moving. She could see that what slammed into her had pushed her out of the trajectory of the serrated pinnacles of glass at the base of the cliff. Given that she couldn’t help landing though, she had to make the best of the situation.

The push had slowed her momentum a bit, but she was speeding right up to terminal velocity again and hitting those waves in any position but straight would likely obliterate her body just as surely as the beveled vitric rhyolite. Going in straight would also have the highest possibility to avoid any glass under the water. That was the first step.

Windmilling the last few yards, she tried to slow her speed, just a little, just enough to make this barely survivable. In the last moment, she slammed her feet together, toes pointed. She crossed her arms over her chest, chin tucked.

It was like slamming feet first into stone.

Cara felt popping and grinding from her toes to her knees, even from the reinforcements of her boots and protective clothing. She didn’t have much thought beyond the pain until the water reached her neck and went over her head. Then she was engulfed in ice.

This time her brain froze with her body. How did a volcanic planet have this cold an ocean? It explained the glass cliff more readily. Damn it was cold. And about that moment she realized her mask was filling very quickly with water.

She tried to pry the mask off, but she couldn't avoid the cleats and she was going numb from the cold. Already she was swallowing water, trying desperately not to aspirate. All the while wave after wave crashed over her, pushing her under the water again and again. The numbness from her limbs began to seep into her mind until the effort she was trying to express didn’t really seem worth it.

Hypothermia. She was hypothermic.

It wouldn’t take that much of a drop in temperature for her system to shut down. All the neurotransmitters propelling through her, the terror, the hits, the cold, her body was really really done.

Maybe that was okay. Maybe aspirating wasn’t a great way to die, but there didn’t really seem to be a way out of this anymore than when she was falling. At least this way, she was certain it wouldn’t last long, even if still painful. At least she knew this would kill her, unlike the possibility of feeling her insides ripped out of her and remaining conscious for it. Yeah, at least she wouldn’t be impaled.

Before she could expel her lungs though, she got slammed into again, a full body slam and her mask was ripped off her face.

“We’re about to hit the rock and glass at the base of the cliff,” the Mandalorian yelled in her ear. “Brace yourself!”

Cara pulled her body into as tight a ball as circumstances would allow and the Mandalorian wrapped himself around her. While the hit was expected, she could not have saved herself. The pound hit her side and she thought she felt the rib crack this time because there was a stabbing sensation in her side. She did manage to avoid a head hit.

“Come on! Swim!”

That galvanized her, but she had no idea what direction to go in. The Mandalorian did. He shoved her forward, dragging her as much as swimming next to her.

They’d only gotten a couple of feet when he stopped and shouted again.

“Brace!”

The wave crashed over them and then smashed them into the wall again, shards of glass falling over their heads.

“Swim!”

And so began the alternating of swimming and pounding. She had no idea how long this went on. Her whole world narrowed down to those two commands, brace and swim. It never seemed like they were making progress until they were there, right against an outcropping that waves washed over, ebbing and flowing.

The Mandalorian shoved her against the lip of the platform. Once she had a grip, the cleats from her gloves finding purchase on the pale, spongy looking stone, he used his own gloves to pull himself out.

She began to do the same, the waves calmer here near the shelf. Or so it seemed.

The Mandalorian had turned, reaching out to help her up when a harsh wave bashed into her back, her chest hitting the lip and forcing the air out of her. Off balanced and out of air, her arm bent at a bad angle, and yeah. Now that shoulder was dislocated . On the way back into the water, screaming at the shearing pain, her brow hit the stone and that was it. She was just gone.


	2. The Treatment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After falling to what was assuredly going to be her doom and escaping, now it's time to treat the hurts. All of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently this makes you have one rating for the whole thing despite the chapter content, soooo, yeah, not in this chapter.
> 
> CW/TW:  
> Minor talk of the destruction of Alderaan, and also a tasteless gallows humored joke.

Cara had always wondered if there was an in between. In between life and death like dreaming was for sleep. It didn’t seem like it. There was nothing in her awareness between the lights going out and the wracking cough that woke her.

She rolled onto her side as she expelled the water from her lungs. The coughing made breathing difficult, but she managed to suck in air between bouts as she tried to roll again, but was stopped by a hand on her back and another over her eyes.

The hand over her eyes panicked her and she started thrashing weakly but gaining purpose.

“Cara, stop. Calm down.”

The voice was not entirely familiar and she wasn’t in a frame of mind to work out what was familiar about it, so she continued to struggle.

“Cara, calm down. It’s Din. I need you to stop trying to look around.”

Din. Din? The Mandalorian!

“Din,” She gasped out, placing a staying hand over his to gain some kind of stability. “Din,” she said again more quietly.

“I need you to keep your eyes closed and to turn away. Please.”

And then it hit her. The voice was familiar, but not the quality of sound. It was the Mandolorian’s voice, but there was no static overlay on it. He wasn’t wearing his helmet.

She gasped his name again and turned back over, squeezing her eyes tight while letting go of his hand. The groan that ripped out of her was nearly a scream as the roll moved her shoulder and it was all she could to to breathe. At least it prevented her from thinking about the implications of what must have just gone on.

“Alright,” he said after a moment, the static back in his voice and Cara, holding her arm against her stomach, slowly and carefully looked over her shoulder at him. The cold mask was tilted, watching her carefully.

“What...why?” she asked.

“Your head hit the rock and you went under before I could grab you,” he said, coming over to her and kneeling down. “By the time I’d dragged you back up, you weren’t breathing.” With his head tilted down to examine her, he pulled the edges of his cloak from their tucks in his armor. “There wasn’t really anything else I could do. I had to get you breathing.”

Now that the cloak was off, landing with a wet plop on the stone floor, he braced his arm against the back of her shoulder and very, very slowly helped her roll onto her back. It was excruciating. Each degree of the turn made tiny movements in her shoulder and by the time she was lying on her back again, her breaths were coming out in hissing pants through her teeth.

As he very gently probed her shoulder, she managed to get her breathing under control again and looked back up at him. “But, you always made it seem like...”

“There are times when there are mitigating circumstances.”

“What does that mean?”

The Mandalorian stopped his palpitations and tilted his head towards hers. “It means you’re alive so what does it matter?”

Cara pinched her lips together as she regarded him in the same manner and then sighed. “Yeah. I guess it doesn’t.” She started to try and shift a little to get more comfortable, but that caused her hand to begin to slip off her stomach and attempting to pull it back up on her abdomen shot agony through to her spine. This time the groan turned into a sharp, short scream.

“Sonuva-” she cut herself off as another strike of pain hit her and another groan erupted out of her.

The sound of rasping of leather against skin brought her eyes around back to the Mandalorian as he stripped off his gloves. The cleated ones were already gone, one would assume when he was dragging her out of the water, but it had never occurred to her that Madalorians could remove other things in the presence of others, just not their helmets.

“I’m going to need you to relax completely. This is going to be excruciating, but I won’t be able to do it if you fight me.”

Cara looked up at him. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

“I’m a bounty hunter. First aid is a necessary skill.”

“That doesn’t sound like a yes.”

The Mandalorian reached out and took Cara’s wrist, his other hand cradling her injured shoulder. “Cara, trust me.”

She wished she could have searched his eyes. Look for some kind of reassurance, but that was impossible. She took a deep breath, holding a groan deep in her throat and pushing it back down and gave a curt nod.

“Alright. I’m going to brace you with my foot and put traction on your arm. Now is when you need to relax and give me control of your arm.”

Cara closed her eyes and nodded again.

She felt the press of his boot against ribs that were miraculously not broken and he took her arm just below the elbow. With a slow, steady pressure, he pulled down, toward her feet. It was a monumental struggle not to fight him and she ground out every obscenity she could think of at him. But then she felt a pop and the sharp pain was gone, instantly. All that remained was an insistent, dull ache.

She let out the breath she’d been holding as he gave her back her arm and stood.

“We need to get you out of those clothes; they’re soaked through.”

“You’re gonna have to buy me dinner first.”

He didn’t even dignify that with an answer. Cara rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay. Help me up.”

He moved to her other side and held out a hand for her to pull herself up with. Pain lanced through her side as she reached up and she let out a bark as he pulled her into a sitting position.

“Where’s this injury,” he asked, abducting her arm carefully.

“Ribs, I think,” she said, very carefully resting her forearm on her head.

He got closer to peer at her side, slight pressure around the area making her wince. “Does it hurt when you breathe?” he asked.

“No, just a stabbing pain in my side.”

“Well good. It probably is a stab. There’s a slice in your suit. And it looks like there is glass in there.”

He paused as he moved back and sat on his heels, still gently moving the edges of the fabric. “Normally, I wouldn’t take it out, but given the circumstances, I’m more confident in being able to keep you from bleeding out than keeping you warm with the suit on.”

Cara took a slow deep breath. “Do it.”

The Mandalorian nodded and reached out to help her remove the reinforced suit. Carefully working around the glass and the shoulder, they managed to get the whole thing off her, leaving her in a lighter version of her gear. Then it was time to put her arm up again.

“Remember when I said your shoulder was going to hurt?”

Cara snorted. “Let me guess.”

“Yeah, this, too.”

And with no other warning, he gripped the glass and pulled it out of her flesh in one steady motion, sending her careening toward the ground, likely landing on the injured shoulder. But he was ready for that. He gripped her collar while he slapped his hand over the wound.

“Can you steady yourself?”

After a moment, she nodded and he let go of her. She sat upright, her good arm resting on the top of her head again. With a hand still pressed to her ribs, the Mandalorian rummaged around in one of the tiny pouches on his leg, then pulled out a small aerosol can.

“Bacta,” he muttered before she voiced her question. “Basically heals anything.” He was quiet for a moment while he depressed the trigger and a strange, cold sensation hit the parts of her side that were on fire. “It’s what the IG unit used for me.”

So. That’s how he'd gotten well after the kind of damage he’d taken. He’d taken his helmet off for the IG unit, and it healed him. But he hadn’t accepted her help. She wasn’t worthy-

Cara stopped that thought right there. That was an incredibly stupid thought and selfish, besides. Of course he wouldn’t let her take off his helmet. He was a Mandolorian. She knew that. She understood it. She was cold and in pain. She’d fallen, been hurtled into, slammed against a wall repeatedly, and now evidently smashed her head into a rock ledge. She was tired and bone weary. So she wasn’t being rational.

Thinking about it, he said sometimes there were mitigating circumstances. They’d left him alone with the IG unit. Perhaps things were different with droids.

“Then it’s good to know it’s going to work and quickly,” she finally said.

The Mandolorian nodded. Once the wound was closed, he started helping her out of the rest of her clothing, examining each part of her body in an efficient, clinical manner as it was exposed. When he found lacerations and tears, he would use the bacta again and obscenely, as the bacta began healing her wounds and easing the pain, she became hyper aware of his hands on her. They were calloused and rough, but warm and gentle. As the pain continued to ebb and his hands continued to run over her, her skin became sensitized and parts of her that she never really felt like she needed, save on a few occasions, began to come alive.

But as he sat back, casting one last look over her, she shut the feelings off. Mostly. This was not the time or the place to scratch an itch.

“I think everything else is superficial and the bacta will have taken care of it all by the morning.” He looked up at her face. “We’re stuck here until then anyway because of the tide.”

Cara nodded. “Sounds fair. Thanks.”

The Mandalorian nodded back. “Think you can get yourself up and against the wall while I improvise a sling?”

Again, she nodded.

“Keep your shoulder at ninety. The bacta works fast enough you don’t want to heal in the wrong position.”

“Gotcha.”

Damn this was awkward. She told her body to knock it off and pressed her hand to her chest before pushing herself to her feet. She walked hesitantly to the wall of the cave, a strange combination of white and black stone and the black glass. She put her back to it and slid down to sit. The Mandalorian was at her side a moment later, her belt in his hands.

“That’s a good position. I’m going to strap you around the chest like that.”

He had her sit forward so he could drop the length of the belt behind her, then wrapped it around her and buckled it over her wrist. “That should keep it immobilized for it to heal.”

Cara took a deep breath. “Din. Thanks.”

The Mandalorian shrugged. “You’d have done the same for me.”

“I don’t know. After the third time I’d start assuming you were trying to die.”

No response.

“Sorry. I forgot. No jokes.”

He looked down at his hands and sighed. “It’s not that I don’t like jokes or that I don’t find them funny. I just don’t laugh.”

Cara tilted her head. “Any particular reason for that?”

He shook his head. “I’m not sure I even remember laughing as a child.”

Cara watched him for a moment. “Well, you are very stoic. I guess that’s how you are.”

The Mandolorian shrugged. “Guess so.”

Cara sighed, then shivered. Then shuddered. Damn it was cold suddenly. “How are you not freezing?” she asked as she wrapped her other arm around herself.

He looked back up at her. “My clothes are made of wool. Even when it’s wet, it’s warm.” He stood up and went over to get his cloak, wringing it out as he came back to her. He wrapped it around her torso before saying, “Let me go lay out your clothing so it can dry.”

“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”

As he went off, she wondered what the hell he was talking about because she felt just as cold now with the cloak on as she did before, but now she was wet again. It didn’t take him long to lay out all of her clothing and the reinforced suit. When he came back to her, her teeth were chattering. She blinked up at him stupidly.

“Are you not warming up?”

It took her a couple of tries but she managed, “I think I’m in shock.”

The Mandolorian cursed. “You’re hypothermic. Hold on.” With quick, efficient, practiced movements, he began removing his armor. His gloves were already off, so the vambraces were quickly removed. Then off came the paldron, a mudhorn emblazoned on one. Then the cuirass and the leg armor. All were set aside before he came up next to her and sat down.

“Sit forward for a second.”

Befuddled as she was, she obeyed the order automatically. He shifted a bit next to her, then pulled her back by the good shoulder to rest against him.

“Wha-?”

“You need to warm up. Body heat is the best way.”

“Okay,” she managed, blinking. “But...”

“Just relax.”

She nodded slowly. She did snuggle into him because he was warm where she was not. She didn’t even protest the arm he wrapped around her middle. It was actually soothing after all the pounding she’d just experienced from the waves. It was soothing to feel something warm wrapped around her after all that cold. After a while, she started shivering properly and she could feel her digits again. Then finally, she felt human again.

Cara was just nodding off when the Mandalorian spoke.

“Are you warmer now?” he asked.

She nodded, rousing enough to realize he was running his fingers through her hair. “Yeah.” She paused. “You’re not normally this affectionate.” She paused again. “I must have been a mess coming out of the water.”

His hand paused for a moment, then started up again. “I’m making sure there isn’t any glass in your hair.”

She raised a brow. “It feels like you’re stroking my hair.”

“Best way to check for glass.”

Cara took a slow, deep breath. “Is it that hard for you?”

His hand paused again. “What?”

“To admit that you care.”

The Mandalorian dropped his hands slowly. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”

Cara sighed. “No. I guess you wouldn’t. Never mind.” She leaned forward a bit, easing the joint of her shoulder where it had gotten stiff. “You can move back over if you want. I’m warm enough now. And the shoulder doesn’t ache as much.”

“You’ll just get cold again.”

Cara looked back at him through her drying hair. “And that’s a concern for you?”

“You know, you keep implying something.”

“Would you like me to say it explicitly?”

“It would help.”

“You don’t seem to give a damn about anyone. Except maybe for the kid.”

He just stared at her. Unmoving, still as the statue of armor he looked like.

She unbuckled her belt from around her chest and very carefully let her arm rest in her lap, very slowly rolling the shoulder back and forth.

“That isn’t true,” he said quietly.

Cara sighed. “I know that. I’m just frustrated.” She leaned back again, glad he hadn’t elected to move. It was still cold, and he was very warm.

“Din,” she said, returning to the conversation. “I don’t have many friends anymore. I don't even have a home at all. I’m an affirmative person. I need to know there’s a certain level of amity from others to feel secure. To feel that I can trust them to guard me, to watch my back. And as much as I need actions, I also need words. It’s just the way I communicate.”

“I’ve called you my friend before.”

“To the kid. When he was trying to kill me. During a time when you needed my help.”

“Cara, you know you’re my friend.”

She nodded, tilting her head back to rest against his shoulder more. “Yeah. I do. But, I’m tired. I've nearly died, what, four times today? More if you count every wave? Sometimes people just need a little assurance.”

They were both silent for a long time. Cara was starting to nod off again when he spoke up again.

"I don’t like getting overly attached to people. It makes it harder to utilize them when I need to. It makes it a lot harder when they die.”

Cara looked off into the darkness. “I can understand that. I’ve had leaders that were as much comrades as generals. I saw their pain when some of us didn’t come back.” She took a deep breath, holding back a yawn. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but you’re in far more danger of dying than I am. You’re running around toting the most wanted child in the galaxy, and I’m perfectly happy to be attached to you.”

“That’s easy for you to-”

“No, Din, it’s not. We are very lucky people. It will run out someday. Sooner or later it’s going to run out. It certainly ran out for my home. If you died, I’d be sad. But like you said, I’d get over it; we all do.” She paused, a small grin spreading over her lips. “I mean, it’s not like it would be the end of my world.”

The Mandalorian coughed, cleared his throat, “Did you just-” coughed again. Then she felt his body started to shake.

Cara’s grin grew wider. She turned and tilted her head back. His head was turned away from her, not that she could have seen his expression. “Are you laughing?”

He gave a choke off “no,” but then the air rushed out of him and he was in fact, laughing. He did not sound like a Kowakian monkey-lizard. His laugh was warm and rich and full bodied.

When he’d managed to get control of himself, he took a deep breath, his chest rising high under her shoulder.

“That was a terrible, tasteless joke.”

“It was a hilarious joke and I am uniquely qualified to make it.”

His head tilted so that he looked like he was giving her a stern look. “It’s probably not as funny to those who lost their lives.”

“Well. They’re dead so....”

He choked back another laugh. “Really?”

“What?!”

He shook his head, his laughter quieting more quickly. They sat in silence again for a while before he spoke again. “I do care about you, Cara,” he murmured, tightening his arm around her middle. “You are my friend.”

Cara smiled and leaned more into him. “Thanks for saying so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it~! Remember folks, always feed and water your fic writers.   
>  Kudos are good, comments are better and the always inspirational is MOAR!


	3. The Sex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When one nearly dies, one tends to feel what appears to be an inappropriate need to affirm one is alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is the sexy times one. If you're here to read, please enjoy~! If you're passing through, see you in the next chapter~!

It seemed like hours had gone by and Cara was relaxed and comfortable in that half way state of awake and asleep. Next to her, the Mandolorian’s breathing was slow and deep. The slow, steady rise of his chest under her shoulder was soothing and before much longer she was going to fall asleep.

Slowly though, she became aware of the straying movements of his hand. There didn’t seem to be any intention in the movements and they were in an innocuous enough position under her arm, but there was a sensualism underlying the touch. His fingers dragged very lightly along her skin, then alternating, would increase pressure on his thumb and drag it down along her forearm. Then his hand moved to her middle and he stroked the outer edge of her abdomen.

Her focus narrowed down to the movement of his hand on her abdomen. She tried her best to keep her breathing slow and steady, but she was fully awake now, and getting very warm, very quickly. Then she became aware that his own breathing had sped up. Not much, but enough to know that he was fully as awake as she. And the way his touch became more purposeful, fully aware of what he was doing.

“Cara?”

“Hmm?”

“How is your shoulder?”

“I think it’s fine. I don’t feel much pain anymore.”

“And your ribs?” His palm brushed over the cut and she took in a slow deep breath as the tips of his fingers brushed the side of her breast.

“I’d actually forgotten about it.”

His hand stopped moving, splaying all across the side of her ribcage, fingers spreading all along the side of her breast.

“Then would you close your eyes?”

Cara blinked completely lost for the moment. “What?” then, “Why?”

His hand became firmer on her ribs and there was a delicious ache at the pressure deep down in the muscle that nearly had her moaning in pleasure.

“Because I want to kiss you.”

Cara’s heart skipped one beat in surprise, then another in anticipation. “That would require taking off your helmet.”

“This is a mitigating circumstance. And I trust you.”

The surprise this time was accompanied by a warming in her. To be trusted that much, that he would risk his creed. It was the truest demonstration of his feelings toward her, and it made her feel special.

She closed her eyes completely and tilted her head up for him to see. “Alright. They’re closed.”

There was shifting, and a soft hiss and then a tapping of metal on stone. Then there was a hand on her jaw, the thumb sliding slowly over her cheek. She felt the puff of breath against her cheek just a moment before his lips touched hers. She let out a little gasp, surprised by the gentleness of the brush, the warmth of breath, the wetness of the tip of his tongue running along the seam of her lips.

Cara parted her lips and he delved in, accepting the invitation without hesitating. She shifted so she could slide her hand up over his shoulder and up to his neck, holding him there. He shifted as well, twisting a little to keep the one hand on her side, sliding it down to her hip, while the other slid up her arm and rest over her hand on his neck.

Cara propped up a knee, using her foot to twist them both back around so his back was against the wall and she straddled his lap. Both his hands moved to her hips, sliding her up to meet his pelvis and a growing fullness that fit perfectly between her legs. Taking over the kiss, she ran her hands up his arms to return to his neck, feeling her way over his clothing until she reached the collar of his flak vest.

As she slipped the hooks at his collar free with one hand, sliding the fingers of the other down the back of his neck under the fabric and thin strip of metal, his own hands slid from her hips under the tight shirt that bound her breasts, spreading his fingers over her skin between her shoulders. More hooks slipped free as metal filled fabric was quickly removed, and as he grew harder between her legs, she started a gentle, sliding rock over him, hands pushing the flak vest off, lips and tongue never leaving his.

His fingers dug into her back as he groaned into her mouth, his pelvis trying to find synchronization with hers. All the aches and pains that were left from the healing bacta intensified with his grip and strokes of her back and shoulders and she let her own groan slip into his mouth with her tongue. His hands moved back under the binding shirt and he slid them around her rib cage to her breasts, allowing the mounds to fall free from the clothing article before running his calloused hands down, pinching the peaks between his fingers as they slid down underneath them to cup. The weight of them filled his palms and his thumbs moved to brush repeatedly over the now sensitized peaks.

Cara broke the kiss sharply, dragging air into her body with gasps and panting. "Din, I need you. Right now.” She grinned at the sound of his groan and the way his fully hard length twitched against her. “But I don’t think I can promise to be able to keep my eyes closed.”

He wrapped one hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in to kiss her again, once more delving into her mouth like they both wanted him to delve into her body. His mouth was so hot, just like his skin, and the taste was warm and spicy, just enough to make her light headed. 

“Okay,” he said when their lips parted and she thought that was going to be a stopping point. Obviously they couldn’t do anything if she couldn’t promise she wouldn’t look at him. It was just really disappointing. 

“Turn around.”

Oh. Oh yes, that would work. That would work very well. She shoved in for one last, hard kiss, her lips bruising against his, before she stood, did an about face, and went back to her knees, there sexes once more lining up, even through their clothing. Both of his hands slid up her back, sliding under the shirt again, then pushing it up all the way over her head. She shucked it down over her arms and dropped it next to her. His hands went low, his fingers sliding below the waist of the small clothes and sliding down to the front, coming so close to the prize, but bypassing it altogether and sliding up her abdomen, to her breasts again, pulling her back to rest against his chest while his mouth touched the back of her neck and his teeth scraped against the skin.

Cara’s breath hitched as he pinched and rolled the peaks between his fingers, and she let out a long, deep moan when his teeth sank into her tender flesh. “Dammit, Din,” she gasped. “Stop playing around!”

The low chuckle in her ear roused her higher and oh, hell, that low laugh had her on the edge. His mouth moved around from her neck to her shoulder, back up the side of her neck again while his hands moved, one to her breast where it fiddled and played, the other creeping lower.

As his hand slipped under her small clothes again, and this time went straight to the prize, Cara arched, her breaths coming out in halting, hitched laugh that ended on a skittering gasp. As the arching continued, his hand slipped further until the heel of his palm was pressing exactly where she needed it and his fingers nudged her entrance.

Cara dropped her head back on his shoulder, turning her face away from him, just in case. She moved both hands to cover either of his. “Oh, damn,” she gasped again, then sucking in a hissing breath. “Damn, keep going!” And then his fingers were inside of her and she nearly sobbed with sensation.

Cara’s eyes squeezed more tightly together as she stretched around the digits. It had been long enough that she wasn’t used to the sensation of relaxing and stretching as she had been in the past. But oh, hell, it felt good. A similar deep ache to match the rest of his touches.

The strokes he pushed into her body were evenly paced, steady, and shallow, the pads of his fingers rubbing steadily over the place inside of her that made her shake the longer he rubbed and the heel of his palm, rubbing similarly from the other side had her cresting the peak in short order and she road that wave and his hand all the way down again. When her body was languid again, he slid his fingers free of her and with her eyes closed as they were, she didn’t see what he was doing, but she heard the soft sound of licking and sucking in her ear and she was just as ready to go again, in spite of her release.

“Din, you need to hurry up and be inside of me.”

That chuckle sounded again and his hands moved to her hips again as he started to sit up. “Lean forward,” he instructed as he guided her hips. She wasn’t entirely certain what he was doing, but then she realized that her small clothes had been lowered to her thighs, and in this position, everything was laid bare to him. And at this height...

The first lick of his tongue shocked her system and she had to drop to her forearms, her chest following so that her breasts were flattened against the cold stone under her. The Mandolorian made an approving sound as he put her in a better position for him and his tongue darted between her folds, the very tip of it touching the throbbing, over sensitive place and she shivered, reaching one hand back to grip the fabric covering his leg tightly.

“Din!” She cried out as the very brief movements of his mouth sent her over the edge again and her body was slick and ready for him. “Now...please?” she panted.

There was no chuckle this time. Just quick jerks and pulls of cloth and leather and then his length was pressed against her core and it would only take a lift from him or a drop from her and they would be locked together. He slipped the length of himself between her folds, sliding back and forth to coat himself with her and then very slow, by small increments, he pressed into her body.

She was glad for his caution. It had evidently been longer than she thought since she’d been filled like this, and it would take her just a moment to adjust. While she did, she alternately clenched and loosened around him, squeezing the head of him inside of her while they both waited for her body to relax, and the Mandolorian’s breathing hitched every time.

When she’d done this a number of times, listening to one particularly sharp gasp and smiling, he leaned down over her back, pressing hard against her and said “this is going to be a much shorter encounter if you keep that up.”

The chuckle that came out of her throat was just as deep and rich as his and she clenched one last time around him, enjoying the feel of the strain and shiver that went through him.

“Cara...”

“You should probably move now,” she said, refraining from looking back at him. “Now would be a really great time to move.”

His body pulled away from her back but she felt his hand run down her spine from rear to the base of her skull, then back up to between her shoulder blades. “Is that so?”

Oh damn. He was going to tease her. Of all the times for him to learn how to tease a friend, this was the time he chose? “Din...” she growled softly and was rewarded with another of those rich, low laughs.

But he pressed forward until he was fully seated within her and they both uttered a long, deep moan. He didn’t pause after that. Any teasing he would have learned to do had left both of their minds, and they were just a entity for sex now. Her whole focus narrowed down to the stroke of his body inside of her, the slightly stinging impact of his pelvis against hers, the slight resistance to parting of their sweaty skin.

She did feel one hand slide down her spine to her neck and back up again. The long strokes were a sensory conflict with the short, sharp thrusts pistoning into her body and her brain could no longer focus on just one thing and she gave up trying to control herself. She didn’t realize until a few breaths after he had done it that he’d gripped her by her good shoulder and pulled her up on her knee, her back plastered to his front and the already deep sliding went farther, just barely skimming that place that made her come so quickly.

She could hear him panting next to her ear. One of his hands was back on her breast, squeezing and kneading more roughly than he had before, but it was a perfect pressure for this moment. The other hand slid down her body again, reaching for and rubbing the small place that sent electricity shooting through her again and she couldn’t hold back the cry of release, could not prevent her body from squeezing tightly around him. The hand on her breast tightened, painfully so, and it felt amazing, all the while, he thrust through the tightening of her body around him until she released fully, and with a groan he slipped out of her and she felt the hot splash of fluid against her thigh.

She smiled to herself as she reached back and ran a soothing hand over his hip, while he ran through the end of his orgasm. With heavy breaths he sat back on his heels, bringing her with him. The rise and fall of his chest at her back matched her own as her breathing slowed and she ran her hands over the arms he had wrapped around her while he recovered.

Sooner than she had anticipated his arms loosened their grip and she was able to pull away from him and she stood, pulling her small clothes back into place. “I’m going to go get cleaned up,” she said as she started to take a step.

“Cara?” He reached out and touched her hand.

Cara smiled and closed her eyes again before turning and kneeling down. “I’m avoiding the awkward part where we get dressed again in silence.” She put her hand out to touch his chest, then slid up to his neck, his unshaven jaw and then his lips before she smiled. “I really hate the awkward part.”

She felt his lips smile against her fingers and he leaned forward to press his lips against hers. She smiled more against his lips, letting his tongue slip back into her mouth for a moment before driving him back into his mouth and taking over the kiss again. When they parted, they were both breathing heavy again.

“We should probably not go there again and get some sleep. We’ve got a lot of climbing to do tomorrow.”

He laughed softly again, pulled her back for one more kiss, then let her go.

Cara stood and turned back around before opening her eyes again. She found where he’d laid out her clothes before and gathered them up before heading out, looking for the part of the cave that the water sounds came from.

It took very little time to clean herself up, and redress in her main gear. She knelt down to the water to splash some on her face and run some through her hair. It was still very cold, but after the night’s excursions, she was was flushed and the iciness felt refreshing. 

When she felt like enough time had gone by, she moved back into the cave proper. The Mandolorian was back in the place they’d been resting before, ankles crossed, fingers laced together across his lap, head tilted back like he was resting.

Cara tilted her head slightly, eyes roving over the body that had just been so intimately engaged with her own, lips quirked slightly, one eyebrow raised.

“You said we needed sleep,” he said. “Keep looking at me like that and we’re going to have a round two.”

The quirk turned into a smirk as she crossed the space between them before sitting back down in her original position, her leaning against him, his arm around her middle. “Oh, but round twos are always so much fun with you.”

He snorted. “Right. Get some sleep, Cara.”

Cara laughed softly and closed her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder. “Same to you, Din.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it~! Remember folks, always feed and water your fic writers. Kudos are good, comments are better and the always inspirational is MOAR!


	4. The Clue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally the clue he's been searching for. He can only hope that it'll lead him in the right direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing really to report here~! If you've made it this far please enjoy~!

Cara was deep asleep when the edges of her vision behind her closed eyelids started creeping with light. It wasn’t normally something that would rouse her awareness to notice. When you were a soldier, you slept where and when you could, even in daylight. But since she’d been in nearly complete darkness for the last half day, her brow furrow and eyes squint shut to block it out. She groaned a little when she lifted her head from the Mandolorian’s shoulder.

“Din?” she said, covering her eyes with her hand and rubbing them. 

The Mandalorian stirred beside her. “Hmm?”

“There’s light coming from across from us.”

She felt him shift again, his hand coming away from her side as he sat forward. Cara sat forward so he could move out from under her.

“I think it’s coming through the...wall?”

Cara shrugged and got to her knees before standing fully. “If the glass is thin enough, I suppose.”

The Mandalorian stood behind her and they both stalked to the other side of the cave. Cara pressed her hand against the wall and felt it bow slightly under her touch, a grinding quality to it.

“This is about to break on it’s own,” she said, stepping back and looking at it. “How did we miss this last night?”

“We were distracted,” he replied, moving forward himself to test the wall. “By a lot of things.”

She could hear the smirk in his voice and her own smirk answered his, even if he didn’t see it. “Well, given that our other plan is to somehow wade through a pounding ocean again, let’s try this instead. There is clearly a light source on the other side and I’d rather take my chances with a soaked blaster than risk another round of dislocation.”

“You said my round twos were fun.”

“You’re just all about the jokes now, aren’t you?”

He shrugged. “Your fault. I used to be very stoic.”

Cara rolled her eyes, but grinned all the same at the easiness that was passing between them now. “Hold on for a second.” Cara went back to her reinforced gear and took up her cleats, tying them both to each boot. When she came back, she braced herself and sent a solid kick at what appeared to be the thinnest place in the glass wall.

The cacophony of shattering seemed to go on forever, tinkling and shrieking and clattering as the glass fell and settled into a pile on the stone floor.

“That was your best idea?”

“Hey, you’re getting smart mouthed now; quit while you’re ahead.”

His soft laugh wasn’t nearly as nice through the radio static, but it was still a pleasure to hear and she was grinning as she stepped back to stand shoulder to shoulder with him, waiting for any kind of reaction.

Nothing much happened. She could see now where the light was coming from. Running parallel to their cave was a stairwell. The steps were perfectly shaped, laser precise and formed a landing directly across from them with stairs leading to and from the landing. From the stairs leading up came the refracted light back and forth through the glass that had hit her in the eyes. She would think that was convenient, but once they’d woken up on their own, it was clear that they would still have seen the light coming through the glass.

The two of them approached the shattered wall, very carefully avoiding stepping on the glass and they looked both directions.

“See anything?” she asked him quietly while he pressed a switch on his gauntlet and peered in the two directions again.

“Not really. I think that way,” he pointed down the descending stairs, “goes back out to the water, but maybe a calmer place.” He turned his head and looked back up the stairs. “All I can see coming from there is light.”

Cara nodded. “Well, most likely, the stairs lead to the compound we were trying to get into yesterday, and the stairs down lead to the water. So up?”

He turned his head to look back at her and nodded. “Up.”

So they went back to get their reinforced gear back on, including the Mandalorian’s jetpack and astonishingly, her respirator that he had apparently managed to hold on to after he’d taken it off her. The suit was compromised in a dozen places, but it still offered more protection than nothing at all. At least it was dry. 

Once she’d doned the gear, she got her blaster out. The Mandolorian already had his at the ready, and he stepped out first on to the landing. Cara was right after him, quickly and quietly moving her way up the stairs to the next landing, lowering her top half as she went until she was kneeling on the new landing. The Mandalorian followed and she very slowly stood as he moved up until they were shoulder to shoulder. They repeated the pattern for the next three landings, the light getting brighter the farther up they went, until they stood together in an open room with debris scattered everywhere. In every corner there had been furniture was broken and splintered wood, shattered glass, and crushed stone remains. There were papers scattered everywhere, fluttering this way and that from the ocean breeze that came in from the open door.

“Of course,” Cara muttered, seeing that it was the exact door they had been trying to get into yesterday. “Well the good news is we weren’t here when whoever broke down the door.”

“Good being relative.” The Mandalorian holstered his blaster before pressing buttons again, and Cara made sure she was looking in every crevice for any signs of life. “There aren’t any heat signatures,” he said.

“So, we’re the only ones here?”

He had been scanning, just as she had been, but he stopped and stepped toward something on the floor of the cave like room. “No. Not exactly.”

He moved to the farthest point in the room, behind a battered wooden desk and Cara followed. There on the ground was a body. She assumed it was male, given the lack of some secondary sex characteristics. She couldn’t have said for sure without stripping the body because the face was unrecognizable. It was nothing more than a mashed up, wet, red pulp where a face should have been.

“Is that him? The doctor you’re looking for?”

The Mandalorian shook his head. “I don’t know. There’s nothing here to identify other than most likely male humanoid. So, yeah. Maybe.”

Cara signed, pulling her finger from the trigger of her blaster and dropping it to her side. “Well, then was there a point to all of this? Beyond the mitigating circumstances, did we learn anything?”

The Mandalorian continued to hit buttons on his gauntlet while she holstered her blaster, leaving the safety off. “Maybe,” he said softly as he looked around.

While Cara waited for him to cycle through his different types of vision, she knelt down by the body, pulling it so it laid fully on its back. It didn’t want to move, the limbs laying stiff. So, it hadn’t been dead for more than a day then. She looked up to see where the Mandalorian was, and he was still pressing buttons and looking around, so she started examining the body. Or rather, looting. She was an honest soldier. She wasn’t above admitting to looting, especially when there was no one to claim the remains. There wasn’t much to be found in the pockets of the corpse, so while the Mandalorian started looking around the walls and broken book shelves, Cara moved to start looking through the desk.

There wasn’t much there either. But there was one drawer. There was something about it that didn’t really register right for her and she couldn't tell what it was. She studied the drawer, pushing it in and pulling it back out again.

“Din, you want to come take a look at this?”

The Mandalorian turned his head, hand on his wrist before he figured out where she was next to the desk. “What is it?”

She pushed and pulled the drawer in and out again and pressed her palm flat on the inside bottom, to measure. Then she brought her hand out and measured it against the outside of the drawer again. “I think there’s a trick drawer here." There was about a two inch difference between where her hand rested in the drawer to the underside if it and she pulled the whole thing out and set it on the lopsided desk.

The Mandalorian stood next to her and peered down. “There appears to be a hiding place here.”

Cara nodded. “It’s not very big, but maybe there’s something in it, right?”

He nodded and the two of them started studying the drawer until finally the Mandalorian found the catch and the whole bottom plate of the drawer swung up and out. There wasn’t much to look at as Cara dropped the lid from the hiding place on the ground. There was a single folder, long and narrow so that it fit into the drawer, but only an inch or so thick.

The Mandalorian pulled it out and Cara set the drawer on the desk. She moved over so that she was next to the Mandalorian and could read along with him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t something she could read. She didn’t recognize the language of the writing. It wasn’t anything she’d ever seen before. The markings were odd and did not create any sort of picture about what they were trying to convey. “I can’t read that.”

The Mandalorian shook his head. “Neither can I. It must be a cipher.” He looked around them at the walls of the room. “And we’re in a damn library. There would be no way of figuring out if any of these books would be the key.”

Cara shook her head, reaching out to turn another page. “Damn is right. It would stand to reason that this is the clue you’re looking for, but if you can’t read it...” She turned another page and stopped looking at a star system map. “Wait...”

He peered closer. “What?”

“That looks like...the Dagobah system.”

He turned his head to look at her. “What system?”

“Dagobah.” She shook her head. “There was someone in my troop whose hobby was memorizing star charts and trying to look very impressive whenever we would get orders to some unknown destination by trying to guess where we were going. She made a killing on bets that way, actually.

“Anyway, one night she was showing off, going over some of the ones she got right. I recognize this on from then.”

“Why would you even remember something like that?”

Cara smirked. “Well, she was very impressive, in many areas. Had to sit through an hour of her going on about this particular star system because of some connection to a higher up in the rebellion, but...it was well worth the time.”

“I’m not sure how to respond to that.”

“Better not to,” she said grinning. “Anyway, I’d lay bets that this is the Dagobah system.”

He nodded, accepting her words. “Alright. So now the question is, is this the clue I’m looking for?”

Cara shrugged. “I can’t say. Like you said, we can’t read the rest of it, and there’s no way to figure out what the key is. But, even if it is a wild chase then maybe you’ll at least find another clue out there.”

The Madalorian nodded, looking back at the file as he closed it in his hands. “It’s more than I had before.”

Cara smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Exactly. Now. How are we getting out of here?”

The Mandalorian looked around the room, then out the gaping door. “That way.”

“Really?”

“Please don’t fall in this time.”

“Yeah, it was totally intentional the first time.”

“You’re the one who said to assume death was the goal after a few tries.”

“And how many times are you going to try my patience?”

“At least once more.” 

And he strode right out of her reach before she could punch him in the ribs, which was likely the only place she could really punch him and not break her hand.

She glared at him for a moment, then softened as he turned and put a hand out to her. “Come on. Let’s go.”

She took a deep breath, grinning at him before clasping his hand briefly, then setting off to the climb, calling over her shoulder, “Race you to the top, Friend!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I totally just made this Dagobah shit up. I just couldn't think of another thing that could be a real lead 'cause I'm not a writer on The Mandalorian (AKA the Baby Yoday Show). But, they wanted a proper plot, so this is what they got. I got the smut, that got random ass plot. Soooo yeah!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it~! Remember folks, always feed and water your fic writers. Kudos are good, comments are better and the always inspirational is MOAR!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it~! Remember folks, always feed and water your fic writers. Kudos are good, comments are better and the always inspirational is MOAR!


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